Editor:

In response to Jessica Sibley's Saturday article about bear hunting.

I always appreciate the quality of Ms. Sibley's writing and the oftentimes unique angle of her approach to a subject.

I was glad to see her focus on the feeding of bears as a harmful event because that actually creates nuisance bears. I do wish there had been mention of other issues as well, such as the plight of caged bears in the Upstate (whose teeth and claws have been pulled out), who serve to train hunting dogs in what many believe is a cruel event — bear baying.

And, of course, the plights of many hunting dogs, which are not usually kindly cared for and often incur the greatest of injuries and worst deaths. Some compare the plight of hunting dogs to those of fighting dogs, forced into lives of danger and abuse. Also, the bear population figures DNR cites are refuted by others. Black Bears are the only animals that self regulate their population density based on food supply, and Black Bears are generally 10 times more intelligent than dogs. They really are majestic and magnificent animals, and to that end, I would like to see an article that encompasses their value as members of our planet.

I do object to referring to the killing of bears as a harvest. Those appalled by bear slaughters do not view their murders as harvests.

Finally, I do thank Ms. Sibley for bringing the issue of bear hunting to our local newspaper, opening the door to a dialogue.

Nancy Oppenheimer

Seneca